The Linkielist

Linking ideas with the world

Russia’s blanket phone spying busted Europe’s human rights laws

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Russia’s legal framework around the mass surveillance was found to be unfit because it did not limit the circumstances in which public authorities were allowed to conduct their surveillance activities, nor were there any limits on the duration of those activities. Additionally, there was insufficient supervision of the interception and a lack of “procedures for Read more about Russia’s blanket phone spying busted Europe’s human rights laws[…]

China ‘clone factory’ scientist eyes human replication

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Chinese scientist behind the world’s biggest cloning factory has technology advanced enough to replicate humans, he told AFP, and is only holding off for fear of the public reaction. Boyalife Group and its partners are building the giant plant in the northern Chinese port of Tianjin, where it is due to go into production Read more about China ‘clone factory’ scientist eyes human replication[…]

Hacker Obtained Children’s Headshots and Chatlogs From Toymaker VTech

Posted on by Robin Edgar

If storing the personal data of almost 5 million parents and more than 200,000 kids wasn’t bad enough, it turns out that hacked toymaker VTech also left thousands of pictures of parents and kids and a year’s worth of chat logs stored online in a way easily accessible to hackers. On Friday, Motherboard revealed that Read more about Hacker Obtained Children’s Headshots and Chatlogs From Toymaker VTech[…]

Anti-NSA Easter egg in HTTP/2: every connection starts with PRISM

Posted on by Robin Edgar

British programmer and writer John Graham-Cumming has spotted something interesting in the opening protocol of any HTTP/2 connection: an array of explicitly formatted code which spells the word PRISM, in an apparent reference to the NSA’s primary program for mass-surveillance of the internet, as disclosed by Edward Snowden in 2013. The HTTP/2 client connection begins Read more about Anti-NSA Easter egg in HTTP/2: every connection starts with PRISM[…]

Revealed: What info the FBI can collect with a National Security Letter. Hint – a lot.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Merrill is now able to reveal that the FBI believes it can force online companies to turn over the following information simply by sending an NSL demanding it: an individual’s complete web browsing history; the IP addresses of everyone a person has corresponded with; and records of all online purchases. The FBI also claims authority Read more about Revealed: What info the FBI can collect with a National Security Letter. Hint – a lot.[…]

Patent troll reckons it owns https via TLS

Posted on by Robin Edgar

It appears in May this year CryptoPeak Solutions, based in Longview, Texas, got its hands on US Patent 6,202,150, which describes “auto-escrowable and auto-certifiable cryptosystems.” CryptoPeak reckons TLS-secured websites that use elliptic curve cryptography are infringing the patent – so it’s suing owners of HTTPS websites that use ECC. Top tip: loads of websites use Read more about Patent troll reckons it owns https via TLS[…]

TrackMeNot – run random searches in the background

Posted on by Robin Edgar

TrackMeNot runs in Firefox and Chrome as a low-priority background process that periodically issues randomized search-queries to popular search engines, e.g., AOL, Yahoo!, Google, and Bing. It hides users’ actual search trails in a cloud of ‘ghost’ queries, significantly increasing the difficulty of aggregating such data into accurate or identifying user profiles. TMN serves as Read more about TrackMeNot – run random searches in the background[…]

ADNAUSEAM – Clicking Ads So You Don’t Have To

Posted on by Robin Edgar

AdNauseam is a browser extension designed to obfuscate browsing data and protect users from surveillance and tracking by advertising networks. Simultaneously, AdNauseam serves as a means of amplifying users’ discontent with advertising networks that disregard privacy and facilitate bulk surveillance agendas. Source: ADNAUSEAM – Clicking Ads So You Don’t Have To

Air Force hires civilian drone pilots for combat patrols; critics question legality

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Air Force has hired civilian defense contractors to fly MQ-9 Reaper drones to help track suspected militants and other targets in global hot spots, a previously undisclosed expansion in the privatization of once-exclusively military functions. Source: Air Force hires civilian drone pilots for combat patrols; critics question legality

Hilton hotels hit by cyber attack

Posted on by Robin Edgar

US hotel chain Hilton revealed Tuesday that hackers infected some of its point-of-sale computer systems with malware crafted to steal credit card information. Hilton would not disclose whether data was taken, but advised anyone who used payment cards at Hilton Worldwide hotels between November 18 and December 5 of last year or April 21 and Read more about Hilton hotels hit by cyber attack[…]

samyk/magspoof · GitHub

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Allows you to store all of your credit cards and magstripes in one device Works on traditional magstripe readers wirelessly (no NFC/RFID required) Can disable Chip-and-PIN (code not included) Correctly predicts Amex credit card numbers + expirations from previous card number (code not included) Supports all three magnetic stripe tracks, and even supports Track 1+2 Read more about samyk/magspoof · GitHub[…]

New IBM tech lets apps authenticate you without personal data

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Identity Mixer is designed to protect users’ privacy by focusing just on the essentials of the proof. Thanks to a set of algorithms based on cryptography work done at IBM Research, the tool allows developers to build apps that can authenticate users’ identities using what’s known as a “zero-knowledge proof” that collects no personal data. Read more about New IBM tech lets apps authenticate you without personal data[…]

Satellite wars – an analysis of the arms race in space

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Satellites are being weaponised, with the anti-satellite missles, manoevering satellites that can hit other objects and satellites that hack into feeds, giving false information to the receiver. Countriies have been holding on to a balance for ages, but in the last 10 or so years, countries have been gradually upping their game. Source: Satellite wars Read more about Satellite wars – an analysis of the arms race in space[…]

Corporate funding and ideological polarization about climate change

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Turns out that companies have been writing information that makes US citizens not believe in climate change science. “The comprehensive data include all individual and organizational actors in the climate change countermovement (164 organizations), as well as all written and verbal texts produced by this network between 1993–2013 (40,785 texts, more than 39 million words). Read more about Corporate funding and ideological polarization about climate change[…]

How TV ads silently ping commands to phones: Sneaky SilverPush code reverse-engineered

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Earlier this week the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) warned that an Indian firm called SilverPush has technology that allows adverts to ping inaudible commands to smartphones and tablets. Now someone has reverse-engineered the code and published it for everyone to check. SilverPush’s software kit can be baked into apps, and is designed to Read more about How TV ads silently ping commands to phones: Sneaky SilverPush code reverse-engineered[…]

NASA Orders SpaceX Crew Mission to International Space Station – glad I’m not one of those astronauts riding a rocket known mainly for exploding

Posted on by Robin Edgar

NASA took a significant step Friday toward expanding research opportunities aboard the International Space Station with its first mission order from Hawthorne, California based-company SpaceX to launch astronauts from U.S. soil. Source: NASA Orders SpaceX Crew Mission to International Space Station | NASA

Study finds honesty varies significantly between countries

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Beliefs about honesty seem to be driven by psychological features, such as self-projection. Surprisingly, people were more pessimistic about the honesty of people in their own country than of people in other countries. One explanation for this could be that people are more exposed to news stories about dishonesty taking place in their own country Read more about Study finds honesty varies significantly between countries[…]